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My senior dog has an eyelid lump. Is surgery safe with elevated liver enzymes?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Male | neutered | 14 years and 8 months old | 5.2 lbs

This popped up big & all at once, a week ago. Vet won't anesthetize to remove it because he is 15 and has elevated liver enzymes, prob. from temaril p he was taking for airway inflammation. That has been stopped. I'm worried. It does not seem to bother my dog. What should I do, He has had small lumps like this that went away with warm compresses. This one has not but seems to be "coming to a head." Help, please.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on September 19th, 2018

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely a growth. Most of these growths in the eyelids are benign in nature meaning that they are benign cancers. However, even though they are benign in nature, they can get to the point of bothering the patient. I would recommend to consider removal if this appears to be bothering Simon or if this starts getting larger as it may be more problematic or not possible to remove later on. You can consider taking him to a specialty hospital where his liver enzyme elevation can be worked up before surgery but that is rarely a contraindication to undergo anesthesia so he should be fine. Good luck and have a great day!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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